Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Bye bye Natalie, Hello Steven

Thanks Natalie for being our first featured gym junkie of the week :D

Now it's time to introduce Steven (scroll down to the bottom of the blog to view his profile and answers)


What are your goals in life?
To live a balanced life, and to be a corny cliché – own a car, a nice house, have a family with two kids, and to wake up every day next to my partner. Oh - And also one day be able to play my favourite CDS to my kids – like The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga and tell them, “Back in my day, I was cool”
What is your favourite exercise and why?
Zumba, because I enjoy hip-hop and dancing to music that motivates me. Plus my teacher is hilarious and cracks jokes all the time and screams at us to “shake that jelly!!”
Which food can't you live without?
Hot chips and Jasmine Rice (with Japanese curry preferably)
How many days a week are you working out?
3-4 days a week, 1-2 hours a day
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
“Time heals everything”
If you could take 3 things to a deserted island what would they be?
My ipod (if in this ideal situation there is electricity), my boyfriend Hughie and an acoustic guitar

Late night snacking - is it really that bad?

For the past 6-12 months, I've been sleep eating every night, between 12 and 2a.m. I get up from my bed and make my way to the kitchen to open up the fridge and eat whatever i can, usually 2 or 3 spoons of rice, or i pick at vegies, never ever chocolate or biscuits or junkfood etc.

It doesn't matter if i sleep at 11, or 12, i still wake up not too long after I've fallen asleep. And i don't realise I'm at the fridge until im.. at the fridge lol. I've tried eating a late dinner, or a bigger dinner, but it makes no difference.

I wonder if it is the reason why i can't lose any more weight? Because of my late night eating? I've found this article from the Livestrong website

Does eating carbs late at night make me fat?

“Removing nighttime carbs is a simple calorie-cutting technique that hides the real reason you lose weight,” says Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutrition who writes a prominent research review each month. Just think about it: If removing one food from one period of the day was all it took to lose weight, then everyone would be thin. The truth is, removing carbs from the evening will help you lose weight, but with one big caveat: If you tend to overeat on carbohydrate-heavy foods late a night. If that’s not your problem, then restricting your carbohydrates in the evening isn’t going to accelerate fat loss, says Aragon.

In fact, cutting back on calories throughout the day has the same impact as removing carbs at night. “Your body doesn’t store fat more readily during the evening than any other point during the day,” says Aragon, “so a better focus is to figure out how many calories you need to consume and stick to your goals.” What’s more,research has shown that obese people on a weight loss program who shifted their carbohydrate intake towards the last meal of the day had better fat loss than those who spread carbs out throughout the day. The reason: manipulating your carbohydrate intake might influence the hormones in your body (leptin and adiponectin) that influence metabolism and help flatten your belly. That’s not to say that you should eat carbs, carbs, and more carbs. A health balance of proteins, carbs, and fats is ideal. But the research is just another reminder that how much you eat—and not necessarily what you eat—is most important when considering your weight loss goals.

You can click here to see people's comments on the article.

I've been told maybe it's because i don't eat enough during the day, which is why i get so hungry at night.. but truthfully i feel i eat enough during the day, i never over-eat, and i always fill up on fresh produce, i stay away from white rice and bread and carb loaded things like pasta, so i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong, i can't get my weight to budge under 55kg :(

But i try my best to stay positive about it all. I'm eating healthy and i'm keeping myself active, i always feel so great walking out of the gym after a work out, and after every healthy meal i have i congratulate myself for following a great diet, that i know my body will thank me for later on in life.

& i also believe moderation is the key, and this can be applied to all aspects of my life. One timtam, is better then one packet of timtams..! If you're going to deprive yourself of something you really feel like, you'll end up binging or overdoing it, so treat yourself, you deserve it :)

xoxo Betty

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The benefits of switching to coconut sugar

I have recently found out about another sugar alternative - coconut sugar.

Coconut sugar is minimally processed, unbleached, and contains zero preservatives. It is similar in texture and taste to brown sugar but far outweighs its nutritional profile. Naturally low in GI (glycemic index of 35, sugar is GI of 60) coconut sugar benefits people who are trying to lose weight and also helps the diabetic.

When compared to brown sugar, Coconut Sugar has twice the iron, four times the magnesium and over 10 times the amount of zinc.

How is it made you might ask?

Coconut Sugar is produced from the sweet juices of tropical coconut palm sugar blossoms. Traditional sugar farmers climb high into the canopy of swaying coconuts and harvest the sweet nectar by gently slicing the flower. Once collected, the nectars are kettle-boiled into a thick caramel and ground to a fine crystal.

You use it in baking, cooking, tea and coffee or anything else in a 1:1 ratio as you would with normal caster sugar.

I have a yummy dessert using coconut sugar in the next post, and plan to try and bake a few things with it as well, baked goodies without the empty calories of sugar :)

xoxo Betty

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The perfect Skin diet

I don't have the greatest skin, i have hormonal affected acne so i'll get nasty spots for 1 week out of every month (so annoying). On top of using topical acne creams, cleansing and moisturing with oil free creams, my diet can also affect how my skin breaks out too.

On top of breaking out, these skin super foods will also keep your skin looking and feeling good!


Tuna in a Can

the secret: selenium. This nutrient helps preserve elastin, a protein that keeps your skin smooth and tight. The antioxidant is also believed to buffer against the sun (it stops free radicals created by UV exposure from damaging cells). Half a can per day, can help.

Suitable switch: Brazil nuts (about 12); turkey (1 cup).



Tomatoes

Why? Lycopene, the phytochemical that makes tomatoes red, helps eliminate skin-aging free radicals caused by ultraviolet rays. Your body gains the most sun-shielding nutrients when the vegetable is heated. Just a half-cup of cooked tomatoes or pasta sauce has 16 milligrams of lycopene.

Suitable switch: Watermelon (1/16 of a whole melon).


Sweet Potatoes

they're also loaded with vitamin C, which smooths out wrinkles. Vitamin C is essential to collagen production,and the more collagen you have, the less creased your skin looks.

Suitable switch: 2 Carrots (1 large or 16 baby); orange juice (6 oz).



Spinach

people who ate the most leafy greens actually had half as many skin tumors over 11 years as those who ate the least. It's thought that the folate in these veggies may help repair and maintain DNA—basically bolstering cells' ability to renew themselves. That reduces the likelihood of cancer-cell growth. The added bonus to Popeye's fix: The water in greens penetrates cell membranes—which makes for plumper and less wrinkled skin.

Suitable switch: Collard greens.


Green Tea

when it's hot, the bionic brew releases catechins, a type of antioxidant with proven anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. (The tea's antioxidants start to degrade as it cools, so drink it while it's hot.) drinking two to six cups a day not only helps prevent skin cancer but may reverse the effects of sun damage by neutralizing the changes that appear in sun-exposed skin.

Suitable switch: White tea.


Flaxseeds

These wee seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids, which erase spots and iron out fine lines. The fats are believed to stifle your body's response to irritation and attract water to skin cells to plump up the skin and reduce wrinkles. Sprinkle seeds on oatmeal or veggies.

Suitable switch: Flaxseed oil (1 Tbsp with sauteed veggies); salmon (4 oz); walnuts (1 oz, or about 14 halves).



Dark Chocolate

Flavonols, the antioxidants in dark chocolate, reduce roughness in the skin and protect against sun damage. women who drank cocoa fortified with 326 milligrams of flavonols (equal to a standard Hershey's Special Dark bar) had better skin texture and stronger resistance to UV rays than those who drank cocoa containing just a small amount of the antioxidant. You need just a few ounces a day.

Sort-of-suitable switch: Blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries—though you'd have to eat a huge amount.


Carrots

good for clearing up breakouts. Credit vitamin A. It helps prevent the overproduction of cells in the skin's outer layer. That's where dead cells and sebum combine and clog pores. Another reason to snack on carrots: Vitamin A also reduces the development of skin-cancer cells. Nibble on a half-cup of baby carrots (that's about 16) per day.

Suitable switch: Milk (1 cup); cheddar cheese (1 slice).


Almonds

Almonds are seeds, not nuts, and they're stuffed with vitamin E, a potent sun blocker. Volunteers who consumed 14 milligrams of the vitamin per day (about 20 almonds) and then were exposed to UV light sunburned less than those who took none. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant that helps to protect skin cells from UV light and other environmental factors that generate cell-damaging free radicals.

Suitable switch: 2 Tbsp peanut butter; 1/2 cup broccoli.


xoxo Betty

Monday, April 18, 2011

Boxercise 101


I heard about this and knew i wanted in! I Love exercising first thing on weekend mornings, it leaves me refreshed and feeling great for the rest of the day, and compensates for the naughty eating that i usually do on weekends haha :)

My current gym actually does offer boxing classes but only Mon Wed and Fri 6am - it's way too early for me to get out of bed for, especially when i have a whole days work ahead of me. Sunday is usually my rest day but, id love to give this a go and see how it changes my body (i'm hoping to lose weight)

Bootcamp is also offered, enquire for both of them as per below:


Sunday
7AM-8am

Location
Mihajlovic Park
Wilson Rd
GREENVALLEY

Tom Cruz
0411036358

info@exercise101.com.au


xoxo Betty

Sunday, April 17, 2011

BE POSITIVE ...



'People can be unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful you may gain some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may use that against you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

* * *

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway

xoxo Stella ... - Mother Teresa

ddd


stst

* * *

"Live without pretending, Love without depending, Listen without defending, Speak without offending."xoxo Stella

Love Stella xoxo